Position analysis: Special teams

Saturday

Aug 29, 2009 at 5:06 PM

The Gators could be scary good on special teams this season. With the exception of long snapper James Smith, every key player is back.

By Robbie AndreuSun sports writer

The upsideThe Gators could be scary good on special teams this season. With the exception of long snapper James Smith, every key player is back. The return star (Brandon James). The place-kicker (Jonathan Phillips). The punter (Chas Henry). The holder (Henry). The punt blockers (Jeff Demps and Carlos Dunlap). Urban Meyer puts so much emphasis on special teams that many starters in the preseason were fighting to gain spots on the punt-block team (Meyer's favorite) and other phases of the special teams. The Gators have blocked 26 kicks in the Meyer era, and that trend figures to continue. The threat of James in the return game can be the perfect setup for the punt-block team. Once again, UF should be sound and productive in all aspects of the kicking game. Phillips and Henry are proven kickers and UF has fast, skilled athletes all over the place on the return and cover teams. Phillips gaining an extra year of eligibility is a plus. Another plus is the fact sophomore Caleb Sturgis is pushing him for the starting field-goal kicking job. Competition is good for everybody.

The downside The only apparent negative is the loss of long snapper James Smith, a former Buchholz standout. Not only was Smith reliable, he was one of the leaders on special teams, a guy who gave all-out effort in every situation and had a knack for making plays on the punt cover team.

Young guy to watch High school star wide receiver Andre Debose still has his hands full trying to learn the offense and feel comfortable in it, and now he has a possible serious hamstring issue to overcome. When he does return, having him return kicks is a way to get the ball in his hands in space. Until then, another young guy to watch is former Buchholz punter David Lerner, a freshman walk-on who has launched some pretty impressive punts in preseason practice, and recently was recognized by Meyer.